Saigona sinicola, Liang, Ai-Ping & Song, Zhi-Shun, 2006

Liang, Ai-Ping & Song, Zhi-Shun, 2006, Revision of the Oriental and eastern Palaearctic planthopper genus Saigona Matsumura, 1910 (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea: Dictyopharidae), with descriptions of five new species, Zootaxa 1333, pp. 25-54 : 46-49

Saigona sinicola sp. nov.

( Figs. 9, 10 , 66–75 )

Saigona sinicola Matsumura, 1940: 14 . [Nomen nudum.]

Description

ɗ, BL: 14.5–14.7 mm; HL: 3.7–4.0 mm; HW: 1.4–1.6 mm; FWL: 9.2–9.8 mm. Ψ, BL: 15.1 mm; HL: 3.8 mm; HW: 1.8 mm; FWL: 10.0 mm.

General color brown, marked with fuscous and ochraceous. Vertex and most part of genae brown, the areas surrounding ocellus and antenna beneath eye yellowish. Frons, postclypeus, anteclypeus and rostrum yellowish. Pronotum ochraceous, suffused with fuscous; median carina yellowish; lateral, ventrally curved areas yellowish. Mesonotum ochraceous, with a broad, yellow stripe along median longitudinal carina. Thorax ventrally yellowish; abdomen dorsally dark brown, with yellowish brown spots, ventrally yellowish; pygofer and parameres fuscous, suffused with pale brown. Legs yellowish brown, marked with ochraceous.

Head ( Figs. 9, 10 , 66–68 ) moderately long, longer than pronotum and mesonotum combined. Vertex ( Figs. 9, 10 , 66 ) cephalic process relatively long and robust, somewhat upturned; median carina very faint, only conspicuous at apex and base; lateral carinate margins slightly curved in front of eyes. Frons ( Figs. 9, 10 , 68 ) with lateral carinae reaching to eyes, not to frontoclypeal suture.

Mesonotum ( Figs. 9, 10 , 66 ) with lateral carinae distinct, median carina very faint. Fore wing venation as in Fig. 62 .

Male genitalia with pygofer ( Figs. 69–71 ) large and broad in lateral view ( Fig. 70 ), posterior margin straight and gently excavated at apical 1/4 to accommodate anal tube, length ratio of upper margin to lower margin about 1:2. Anal tube ( Figs. 69, 70 ) broad, large, nearly rectangular in lateral aspect ( Fig. 70 ) and large, oval in dorsal view ( Fig. 70 ), with ratio of length to width at middle about 1.8: 1. Anal style ( Figs. 69, 70 ) long, broad. Parameres ( Figs. 70, 71 ) relatively large and broad in lateral aspect ( Fig. 70 ), apex sharply rounded, protruded posteriorly. Aedeagus ( Figs. 73–75 ) with phallobasal conjunctival processes directed lateroposteriorly; phallobase relatively short; apical, dorsal, membranous lobe small, produced dorsally in lateral view ( Fig. 74 ), covered with numerous fine spines at apex; apicoventral, membranous lobe triangular, large and long in ventral aspect ( Fig. 73 ), produced towards base, covered with numerous fine spines at apex.

Material examined

Holotype ɗ, China, Shaanxi, Foping, Liangfengya, 1800–2100 m, 28.vi.1999, T. L. He ( IZCAS). Paratypes, China, Shaanxi: 1ɗ, Mt. Huashan, 10.vi.1936, no collector; 1Ψ, Chungnanshan, Shensi, 6.v. [19]36, [pink label] PARATYPE, [Matsumura’s handwriting] Saigona sinicola Mats. ) (both in IZCAS); Hubei: 1ɗ, Mt. Shennongjia, Hong Ping, 30.vi.1977, Q. Mu (NU).

Etymology

In his paper dealing with several new dictyopharid species from northeastern and other parts of China, Matsumura (1940: 14) listed Saigona sinicola Matsumura from China as a new species in the introductory part of his paper, but unfortunately he did not describe this species in the subsequent part of his paper. Later, Matsumura (1941: 163) also made a comparative note between his new species S. taiwanella from Taiwan and S. sinicola Matsumura. Metcalf (1946) treated the specific name Saigona sinicola Matsumura as a nomen nudum. During the course of the present work, we found one female specimen that bears a paratype label and Matsumura’s handwriting determination label. Our study shows that Matsumura’s (1940) identification was correct and the specimen represents an undescribed species. We herein describe this new species and follow the specific name proposed by Matsumura (1940). The specific name seems to refer to the occurrence of this species in China.

Remarks

This species is similar to S. ussuriensis ( Lethierry, 1878) but can be separated from the latter by its cephalic process more elongate ( Figs. 9, 10 , 66–68 ) and the frons, postclypeus, anteclypeus, and rostrum uniformly yellowish. It can be distinguished from the other known species in the genus by its male parameres with a distinctly stout, black-tipped process near the middle and the aedeagus with phallobase having apical dorsal and ventral membranous lobes covered with numerous fine spines at apex ( Figs. 73, 74 ).

Distribution

China (Shaanxi, Hubei).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 12. Dorsal habitus of Saigona species. 1. S. capitata (Distant, 1914), female. 2. S. fulgoroides (Walker, 1858), male, China. 3. same, female. 4. S. fuscoclypeata sp. nov., male, holotype, China: Shaanxi. 5. S. henanensis sp. nov., male, holotype, China: Henan. 6. S. latifasciata sp. nov., male, holotype, China: Yunnan. 7. S. robusta sp. nov., male, holotype, China: Hubei. 8. same, female, paratype. 9. S. sinicola sp. nov., male, holotype, China: Shaanxi. 10. same, female, paratype. 11. S. ussuriensis (Lethierry, 1878), male, Japan. 12. same, female.

FIGURES 66 – 75. Saigona sinicola sp. nov., male, holotype. 66. head, pronotum and mesonotum (dorsal view). 67. head and pronotum (lateral view). 68. head (ventral view). 69. pygofer and anal tube (dorsal view). 70. genitalia (lateral view). 71. pygofer and parameres (ventral view). 72. right fore wing. 73. aedeagus (ventral view). 74. same (lateral view). 75. same (dorsal view).

FIGURES 56 – 65. Saigona robusta sp. nov., male, holotype. 56. head, pronotum and mesonotum (dorsal view). 57. head and pronotum (lateral view). 58. head (ventral view). 59. pygofer and anal tube (dorsal view). 60. genitalia (lateral view). 61. pygofer and parameres (ventral view). 62. right fore wing. 63. aedeagus (ventral view). 64. same (lateral view). 65. same (dorsal view).